" I know I did my job well when fans and critics alike comment on
how great a particular track was at a given moment of the game, or if
they praise the composer for having written such an appropriately
dynamic score that always seems to perfectly fit the mood of the gameplay.
"

Jesse Harlin

Tracksounds catches up with JESSE
HARLIN, music supervisor of not only THE FORCE UNLEASHED but the
newly released video game, FRACTURE. Jesse, a staff-composer
at LucasArts himself, shares about some of the special challenges
that FRACTURE brought to himself and the composing team of Michael
Giacchino, Chris Tilton, and Chad Seiter. He also comments on
the unsung praise of the musical supervisor and the role this
specific score plays in this unique shooter. Also, proudly
presented are 30 second clips of 22 audio tracks from the FRACTURE
soundtrack.

22 Sound Clips from
Fracture (Video Game)

Composing
trio: Chad Seiter, Michael Giacchino, and Chris Tilton

Not your
average third-person-shooter, Fracture features an engaging score as
well as "terrain deformation" capabilities.

CC: Similarly to THE
FORCE UNLEASHED, you
all spent a lot of
time developing a
solid storyline for
FRACTURE. How does an
emphasis on story
factor into your
musical choices?

Jesse Harlin: Music
can service games in
so many different
ways, from simply
background music to
gameplay-specific
necessity and a bit of
everything else in
between. With
FRACTURE, the role of
music is much more
akin to that of a
typical cinematic
experience. It serves
as a means of
emotional and dramatic
resonance, aids in the
storytelling, and
helps establish tone,
setting, and dramatic
pacing.

When we have such a
rigidly defined set of
guideposts as a full
story arc, the music
choices for a game
like FRACTURE become
entirely subservient
to the question "are
we helping to tell the
right story at this
point?" As such, the
story will help to
dictate choices in
musical genre,
orchestration, as well
as implementation
questions such as
which cue is used
where and for how
long.

CC: What's your theory
on how to handle the
challenge of
listener-fatigue in
shooter-games like
FRACTURE?

Jesse Harlin:
Listener fatigue is
always the big
challenge in game
music. Part of
combating it comes
down to what the audio
engine you’re using is
capable of from a
technological
stand-point. The other
part of it then comes
down to music choice
and implementation.
The mistake to make is
to think that, since
the gameplay of a
shooter involves
almost constant
combat, the music
should be a similarly
amped-up, high
intensity underscore
that constantly scores
the gunfire. This is a
perfect plan for
listener fatigue.
Instead, I look at not
whether the player is
involved in combat or
not, but rather what
is the actual
threat-level of that
combat. Once the
player has already
been playing a game
for three hours and
runs into a little
pocket of three
enemies, the player
knows that the enemies
don’t pose a threat
and it doesn’t make
any sense to switch
dramatically into a
high intensity combat
track simply because
guns are being fired.

So, when looking
to understand the
dramatic impact of
threat level, I look
at what the gameplay
challenges are. Are
you simply moving from
one area to the next?
Or are you being
commanded to dig in
and defend an outpost
from an onslaught of
enemies? Both involve
combat and might
include the exact same
enemy types, but one
is a much greater
threat level than the
other. Once I
understand not only
the dramatic scope of
the story, the
dramatic arc of the
gameplay, and the ebb
and flow of the
threats to the
players’ safety, then
I can begin figuring
out which pieces of
music go where.
Sometimes that means
no music at all,
choosing instead to
let the ambient sound
design carry the
weight of the gameplay.
Sometimes that means
suspense cues in areas
with low threat
levels. It’s all a
balancing act.

CC: How was your
experience as music
supervisor on FRACTURE
different than on THE
FORCE UNLEASHED? or
how was it similar?

Jesse Harlin: There’s
always a bit of a
different experience
when it comes to
working with an
external developer
like Day 1 versus an
internal development
team, such as with THE
FORCE UNLEASHED. For
FRACTURE, music editor
Wilbert Roget, II and
I worked closely with
Day 1’s Audio
Director, Zack
Quarles. When working
internally, we have
direct hands-on
control over
implementation of
every piece of music
in the game. When we
work with an external
team, however, there’s
an added layer of
abstraction simply
because we’re not in
the same building as
the dev team. As such,
we create what I call
a “music map.” It’s
essentially a
break-down of each
piece of music in the
game and where I want
it to be implemented.
It walks the
implementation team
through how long to
let files play, how
often to trigger
files, how to deal
with branching
gameplay moments (when
applicable) and
therefore serves as a
map to illustrate all
of my thoughts
regarding how the
score should appear
throughout the course
of gameplay. We create
music maps when
working on internal
projects as well, but
then they tend to be
primarily for QA to
play through the game
and ensure that
everything is playing
back correctly.

CC: Upon completion of
a game, do you
experience the same
sort of satisfaction
as a music supervisor
for a given title as
you do as a composer?

Jesse Harlin: Yes and
no. There’s nothing
like scoring a game
and having your music
then be heard and
appreciated by a given
audience. There’s just
no comparison from a
creative standpoint
and it’s a great
feeling. That said,
with games, writing
and recording the
score is only half the
job. Once written and
recorded, the music
cues simply exist as
raw assets. It’s then
up to me as Music
Supervisor to shape
the score via
implementation. It
becomes almost
sculptural at that
point. I know I did my
job well when fans and
critics alike comment
on how great a
particular track was
at a given moment of
the game, or if they
praise the composer
for having written
such an appropriately
dynamic score that
always seems to
perfectly fit the mood
of the gameplay. They
don’t realize it, of
course, but what
they’re actually
commenting on is the
implementation and
music supervision that
went into those
moments. No one ever
says “this game has
great music
supervision,” but they
frequently hint at it
anyway without knowing
it.

CC: There are quite a
few good composers out
there, yourself
included, how was it
decided to sign
Michael Giacchino,
Chris Tilton and Chad
Seiter to this
project?

Jesse Harlin:
LucasArts has a long
history of having
worked with Michael
Giacchino in the past
on games like SECRET
WEAPONS OVER NORMANDY
and MERCENARIES. As
such, we jumped at the
opportunity to work
him again. Both Chris
and Chad work with
Michael as part of his
production company
Edgewater Park Music,
so it was a great get
the opportunity to
work with them as
well.

CC: The headline
innovation for this
game has been the
"terrain deformation"
technology employed.
Did that have any
bearing on the music (ie.
Is there any change in
music content when a
player chooses to
employ this in the
game?)

Jesse Harlin: No. In
FRACTURE, literally
all of your weapons
are imbued with
terrain deformation
capabilities at all
times. As such,
hooking an interactive
music system into
terrain deformation
would have resulted in
music cues that
constantly are
shifting and changing
in a way that would
sound completely
unmusical. Like I
said, for FRACTURE, it
was all about serving
the story and I didn’t
want anything to get
in the way of that.
It’s easy to hook
music up into “gamey”
feedback states, but
the emotional reaction
it causes the player
to have can be
confusing and
misleading. I wanted
the music to telegraph
at all times what the
drama of the scene was
trying to portray.

CC: Are the locations
in the game reflected
in the music at all?
SF, DC?

Jesse Harlin: Yes, but
not in the way you
might initially think.
The score’s primary
focus thematically is
on broad strokes and
big themes. This isn’t
a Star Wars-type score
in that has individual
themes for each of the
main characters. Nor
is it an Indiana
Jones-style score that
has textural motifs
mostly for specific
locations. Instead,
FRACTURE’s score has
themes for the main
character – Jet Brody
– as well as themes
for the Atlantic
Alliance army, the
Pacifican army, and
then a handful of
smaller themes related
to the story. What we
decided to do in terms
of implementation was
to use a lot of
Atlantic Alliance
material in San
Francisco to help
establish your
character as heroic
and part of the larger
army. When the story
moves to the Southwest
and Jet’s infiltration
of a Pacifican base,
we use more Pacifican
material since Jet is
on the Pacificans’
home turf. Washington,
DC is then an even
mixture of the two as
the both armies battle
for supremacy.

CC: Were your goals
for the music of
FRACTURE unusual in
any way? Were there
any other unique
musical challenges
presented by this
game?

Jesse Harlin: FRACTURE
takes place during a
second American civil
war set a hundred and
fifty years in the
future. As such, one
of the goals was to
make sure that the
score reflected the
military nature of the
conflict, but also to
do so with an American
sensibility.
Additionally, the war
is fought over a basic
ideological difference
between the two
armies. The Atlantic
Alliance is committed
to the dominance of
mechanical technology
while the Pacificans
have embraced radical
ideas regarding
biotechnology and
genetic engineering.
As such, there was a
need to make sure that
each army had a
different musical
approach, ensuring
that there was a
discernable separation
between the two. The
Pacificans, therefore,
have a much more
“organic” musical
palette. There’s
something about the
blending of science
and military might
within the score that
reminds me of the
darker side of the
1950s – from the
neurotic string
ostinato at the heart
of the Atlantic
Alliance theme that
makes me envision
rolling assembly lines
to the floating
beginning of the
Pacifican theme that
makes me think of
bubbling test tubes.
The Atlantic Alliance
tends to rely more
heavily on brass
statements while the
Pacificans have more
of a reliance on
woodwinds. I think
Michael, Chad, and
Chris did a great job
defining the various
factions.

CC: Will there be an
official soundtrack
release?

Jesse Harlin: It’s in
the works. We’re
working right now on
establishing a means
of digital
distribution for the
soundtrack, but
nothing has been
finalized yet. I’m
trying to do
everything I can to
ensure that it gets
out there, though.
Michael, Chad, and
Chris have written a
great score and I want
the fans to be able to
hear it and enjoy it.

CC: There has been a
lot of talk about
significant changes at
LucasArts, from where
you sit, what
direction is the
company headed? Can
gamers and game-music
fans look forward to
more titles from the
worlds of FRACTURE,
THE FORCE UNLEASHED,
and KNIGHTS OF THE OLD
REPUBLIC?

Jesse Harlin: While
I’d love to talk about
what’s next for
LucasArts, I’m sure
you can understand
that I’m not at
liberty to discuss
anything as of yet.
Let’s just say that I
have a lot on my plate
right now.